Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-04-28
THE PARIS TOWER.
What the Protector of the Gigantic Struc- |
ture Has to Say About 1t.

What the Protector OF the Gigantic Struc-
ture Has to Say About 1t.
Paris is to have the greatest tower in
the world, after all. M. Eiffel's tower
which the Government has authorized
him to raise on the Champ de Mars,
will dominate all Paris, and surpass, in
fact almost double. in height the high
est existing structure. Liberty, to
whom such homage was paid for her
grandeur and greatness, is but a pigmy
of the statue world compared with this
gigantic monster. Lord Nelson's mon
ument, London, is 1872 feet; Liberty
New York, 220 feet; st. Paul's, Lon
don, 300 feet; the Great Pyramid, 400
feet; st. Peters, of Rome. SOY feet; the
Cologne Cathedral, 532 feet; the Wash
| ington Monument, at present the high
est in the world, sos feet; and the Paris
Tower is 1000 feet. In order to find
out what M. Eiffel had to say to the
various objections which have been
made to his tower, and to get his
opinion on its utility, L called on him
the other day at his works at Lenallois-
Ferret. To him his great projection is
synonymous with the success of the
| exhibition.
'They begin by declaring" he re-
marked, referring to his adversaries,
| ''that my tower is not French. 1t is
big enough and clumsy enough for the
English or Americans, but it is not our
style, they say. We are occupied more
| with little artistic bi6elots than giants of
bad taste like your tower. But though we
are occupied most with art and music.
that is no reason" said he, emphatic
ally. ''why we should not show the
world what we can do in the way of
great engineering projects. And as
for its being bad taste, why, on the con-
trary, it will be one of the chief orna-
ments of the town. One of the most
frequent objections made to the tower
is that it is useless. That is another
error. Take its Importance, for in
stance. from a meteorological point of
view. 1t is not every day that meteor
ologistS can get up one thousand feet
above the soil. This tower will enable
them to study the decrease of tempera-
ture at different heights, to observe the
variations of winds, find out the guam
tity of rain that falls at different
heights and the density of the clouds.
Indeed, in all that relates to tempera-
ture. hygrometry, air currents and the
composition of the air, the tower will
afford opportunities for study and re-
search, many of which have hitherto
been impossible. 1t will be equally
useful to astronomers. Here experience
with the spectroscope can be carried
on with great facility; the laws of
! refraction and the physical aspects
of the moon, planets and nebula
studied in most favorable conditions. 1
have received testimonies from savants
on all these points. Then there is
its utility from military point of
view. In the event of another siege of
Paris soc how important this tower
| would be. Communication could be
| kept up by means of optic telegraphy
for great distance around Paris; for
from the summit you could have mag
| nificent panorama extending from 120
to $50 kilometers. Paris by night, dec
grated and illuminated as it will be
during the exhibition, is sight which
before was only within the reach of
aeronauts. In fact. the tower will be
the chief attraction of the exhibition.
Sir Cunliffe Owen remarked to me Just
the other day: .'Do you think that we
English will come to look at your little
6t6ctots and pots of pomade? No, but
we will come in hundreds to see your
| tower"
''What If it topple over, M. EiffelP"
4 4
that. In our construction of the tower
we have calculated on the force of the
wind. We have calculated that the
tower will normally withstand wind
pressure of 500 kilogrammes per square
meter, which amounts to a total pres
sure of 100000 kilogrammes. We
have made this calculation on the most
favorable hypothesis possible. We
have reckoned the trellis work as full
walls, and made other allowances.
And as the strongest tempests ever
known in Paris have never been be-
yond pressure of $50 kilos per square
meter. the tower is perfectly secure.
Should wind bearing force of 800
kiios arise. little would be left stand
| ing in Paris but the tower. Parts Cor.
PGu Mall Gazette.
OF the eighty-two bears for which
the State treasurer of New Hampshire
paid bounties last year, twenty-four
were killed in Conway and twenty in
Albany. The latter towns State tax
was only one hundred and ninety-two
dollars. which was paid in bears. -
CHfc00O Herald